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The Grand Seiko Spring Drive Watch Review

The invention of the Spring Drive was realised back in the late seventies with the curiosity of a young Seiko engineer. His vision was for a watch manufacturer to embrace the concept of an ‘everlasting’ watch, which he decided to bravely test. Yoshikazu Akahane, the courageous and intuitive engineer, believed that he could craft a traditional watch, which was powered by a mainspring and ensure that the one-second-a-day accuracy remained intact.

Yoshikazu proved to possess a determined and persistent character over the twenty years in which he produced over 600 prototypes and endured countless set backs. Quietly and confidently his dream was eventually realised after all his and his teams hard work created the successful Spring Drive in 1999! The concept that time progresses silently and continuously inspired the new technological advancement, which embraced these characteristics and promised to tell the time as nature intended.

The Seiko Spring Drive allows for the elapsed time to be measured precisely and not to the nearest fraction. Features that the spectacular chronograph includes is the one-second-a-day accuracy, 12 hour elapsed time measurement, vertical clutch and column wheel for precise button operation and a power reserve of 72 hours (even when the chronograph is in use). The technical advancement and precision ensures that the Grand Seiko Spring Drive is noted as one of the world’s great chronographs. The complexity mechanism is assembled by hand, with 416 parts, 50 jewels, 140 oil points and 5 different lubricants; a magnificent piece that represents contemporary watchmaking.